Buyer Beware Tales from Ebay 3.5 Players Handbooks

In this video I discuss some of my experiences with ebay sellers. Specifically with 3.5 Players Handbooks.
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[@nachtwulf2008]

Fyi. A lot of (less reputable) eBay sellers try to sneak in some "profit buffers" in the handling portion of the shipping, allowing them to post them at unrealistically low prices in order to generate a quick sale, then zinging it to the unaware buyer with their inflated S&H. Always check the shipping cost before placing a bid, and if you're placing an item put down the honest price of what you will take as your minimum acceptable bid.

[@JimCullen]

Kenn Gentile Ebay actually lets you sort searches by "shipping + handling", and you can always view the shipping price from in any search page (it's underneath the main price in a lighter grey colour, but it's there).

[@LonasStart]

The best advice for ebay is patience. It took me a couple of years to round up all the 2nd edition Planescape stuff up, but I got it all for reasonable prices. Some of the prices for D&D stuff on ebay are absolutely hilarious.

[@Moogaar1]

Kudos to you for responding to his rude manner in a polite way and not sinking to his level.

[@Zalamx]

I see a similar thing with used White Wolf's World of Darkness books. People put books up for ridiculous pricing when they can just go on White Wolf's website and get print on demand remakes for reasonable prices. I buy bundles/collections off ebay with good success but I avoid buying individual books unless they're limited run collector's editions or whatever. Great video, Draven

[@timd4524]

Never caught this video before. Some folks on Ebay are ridiculous. I've bought plenty of older modules. One thing people would do is list an item as D&D when it's actually AD&D. I also collect commodore 64 items. I bought a pack of 10 5-1/4 diskettes for 14.99. About the actual price back in the day. In the meantime there was a person selling a single diskette for over 900 dollars. Absolutely stupid. They made these disks in the high millions. Yes eBay is good but you've got to know what you're buying. Especially now with print on demand. The newer thing is like you said. Outrageous shipping. First thing I look at. Most sellers are very responsible people though. Thank god. People do use the word rare a bit much though. If i can find 3 more like it on eBay it isn't rare. Superman No. 1 is rare, with approximately 50 copies in existence. Then again the word rare is sometimes used for items that are found to be complete. Such as module X10. Which carries a ridiculous price, and considering the players killed the main antagonist in module X5, doesn't make sense. It will be listed as rare if complete with maps and tokens. One of the rarest D&D items is an Orange cover B3. Only about 100 of them escaped into the office before Mr. Gygax stopped the presses due to an image he didn't want used. It was during the days when D&D was for, you know, devil worshippers. The released cover is actually green and was produced in normal numbers. But I'm babbling now. Hope the shoulder is getting better and hear from you soon Dave.

[@rogermckay4710]

Know what things are worth? Great advice. However, sellers have every right to set their prices as high as they want. eBay might be that guy's livelihood. - A fellow Canadian (east coast)

[@DravenSwiftbow]

+Roger McKay I agree that the seller can set what ever price they want. What I take issue to is someone not knowing what they are selling and being hostile to someone who was trying to help out. The fact that the seller freely admitted he gouges the prices on things certainly doesn't help. I tried to explain what the item was, that it was only part of a boxed set and that at the time the Re-Released PHB was easy to come by. Also where on the East Coast? I live in Nova Scotia on the South Shore

[@rogermckay4710]

Just outside of Halifax, neighbour.

[@fingersmcoy]

trying to rip people off as a livelihood is disgusting

[@COMICBOOKJEDI1]

This is good advice .... well done sir ...

[@Alamodem]

There are crazy prices for phb 3.5 out there. In a store in Edmonton, they have them for around 70 bucks. So, not only eBay, unfortunately.

[@Cliffothebig]

I know this is an old video, but I jumped on eBay a couple of days ago and found lots of POD versions of classic D&D at original prices, quite a few even sold, especially the Rules Cylopedia’s, be careful out there!

[@jameslowery4671]

there actually seems to be a circumstance in which gaming books do appreciate,that happens to be based on edition/printing......but you are exactly correct on the fact some people tend to attempt to gouge we poor enthusiasts....

[@yuyu63]

looking back over 3.5 they are going up pretty well at this point

[@zemlidrakona2915]

IMO the other guy is right. Unless he's mislabeled something he can sell his stuff for whatever price he wants and it's really none of your business. There are a lot of listings on Ebay and it's super easy for anyone to compare prices.

[@DravenSwiftbow]

Except he literally said in the listing he didn't know what it was. I was only trying to help him know what he was listing.

[@williamhenry2290]

Yeah I got into buying the Wow 3.5 books but ran into Monster Manual being like $90 US used. No way was I paying that for mass published book. I manged to pick up the PHB and couple supplement books brand new for less then $20-$25 each which was really good deal.

[@damanbooks1869]

I see a lot of 0e things popping up and just a word of advice a 0e 3 core rules set is NOT worth the 1,000$ people label, Truth be told for everything in 0e including the box, dice & chainmail it is worth 400-500 price range MAX.

[@DravenSwiftbow]

I paid $250 for six of the books, Chainmail and reference sheets. The main reason I did that was because my best friend had them and needed the money.

[@ayamiaka3074]

I don't know any hardcore player that would even any edition of a PHB in paperback. The wear and tear wouldn't hold up to the use a PHB goes through. I mean it might last about 9mo - 1.5yrs in my house hold vs my hard back that has held the test of time being used pretty much daily for the last 12yrs.

[@DravenSwiftbow]

It depends. I like the soft cover Pocket Edition books for games like Pathfinder and Starfinder, but to be fair I am very particular with how my books are handled. That 3.5 PHB in the video was bought day one and used regularly for nearly a decade before moving on to 4th and then 5th Edition.

[@ayamiaka3074]

@@DravenSwiftbow Thats true in alot of causes. But both bofriend and i are DM's and we use our books as comunity books to new players. some people don't respect others belongings and i know after the first few times my PHB got stepped on because someone had to get up, I personally glad I don't have a paperback.

[@BrianScottGameNight]

No! Price aside, he needs to clear up what he's selling or get reported to Ebay. He cannot say he's selling one thing when he has another.

[@MrSprigg]

Last month, I scored a first printing of the 3e PH (with the Survival Guide section in the back instead of Sage Advice) in virtually mint condition at the nearby gaming store. Total cost: $25 plus HST. How's that for a bargain?

[@DravenSwiftbow]

That's a great pickup!

[@shyguy2046]

Damn scalpers... Thank u for your vid.

[@DravenSwiftbow]

Thanks for watching.

[@beneastman461]

When I recently purged my 3.0 PHB from my shelf, I sold on Amazon and made sure that I noted in the description "This is the 3.0 PHB, not the 3.5 version." Someone still bought it, and I didn't get any complaints.

[@DravenSwiftbow]

Benjamin Eastman 3.0 still has it's fans. There are things I like better in 3.0 than 3.5. I just didn't want someone just getting into a game of 3.5 going out and buying a PHB that their DM likely wouldn't allow. The basic reason I made an ebay account was to try to help sellers with background on what they were selling as well as fair prices. However after that second experience I think I'll keep to myself

[@rogermckay4710]

+DravenSwiftbow I think it is highly questionable ethically for the publishers not to note ON THE COVER what edition the book is for.

[@johnharrison2086]

3.0 is probably rarer... As long as you advertised it correctly it's no issue

[@draakgast]

being a long time seller on ebay won´t do shit to you if you know jack about the product that you´re selling

[@satanicpanicattheddtable2604]

Hmmm go electronic search out the trove and you need never buy again

[@fingersmcoy]

rakuten.com is trying to sell books for over a thousand dollars.

[@RobsMemoryLane]

caveat emptor

[@tonyhind6992]

Dude it is called capitalism. The guy sounded like an A-hole but if some one will pay that, that's down to them.

[@fingersmcoy]

no, its called greed. and greed is what is making capatalism look bad